Bulls back to .500 as defensive issues pile up

The Bulls are wobbling again.

Chicago dropped another one Friday in Charlotte, a few days after losing to New Orleans and barely surviving Washington.

That early-season splash against Detroit, New York and Cleveland has vanished, and the Bulls are back to 9-9 and stuck in that familiar “middle-of-the-pack” rut, writes Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times.

Opponents are exploiting Chicago’s defensive softness, and it shows even more with Isaac Okoro missing the past three games with a back issue.

He’s their most versatile stopper, and without him, coach Billy Donovan doesn’t have many levers to pull.

“With Isaac being out … we don’t have the luxury to just rely on one guy stopping one guy,” Donovan said.

Injuries have forced the Bulls into deeper bench minutes, and the roster just isn’t built for that kind of strain.

Julia Poe of The Chicago Tribune noted Chicago’s lack of “sustainability,” and Ayo Dosunmu said the errors are getting repetitive.

“Coach has been telling us a thousand times to box out,” Dosunmu said. “But on film, we’re going to the glass, not boxing out, just standing around. … We keep saying the stove is hot, and we keep touching the stove.”